INGLEWOOD, Calif. - In honoring Native Diver on Saturday with the 27th running of the race that carries his name, Hollywood Park management risks the threat of widespread melancholy by reminding its customers of the way things used to be.

Native Diver, a foal of 1959, was nothing like any Thoroughbred at work today. He was bred and raised in California, but by contemporary standards he might as well have been thawed from a prehistoric age or dropped onto the Hollywood backstretch, fully formed, by a Martian starcruiser.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It is a sure sign that a sport is going weak in the knees when the officiating becomes the center of attention, and it is happening in Southern California, where the townsfolk are getting close to lighting torches and storming the castle.

The latest chapter took place last weekend at Hollywood Park, where the promising Bob and John, a son of Seeking the Gold, was disqualified from his six-length victory in the Real Quiet Stakes for bearing in and interfering with Kissin Knight, the eventual third-place finisher.

NEW YORK - Afleet Alex's retirement Thursday is a severe disappointment for racing, even more so than those of some other top 3-year-olds in recent years.

While it may be fun to speculate what one-dimensional horses like War Emblem and Smarty Jones, who commanded the spotlight for a few weeks around Triple Crown time, might have gone on to accomplish, Afleet Alex had both more behind him and in front of him than most. He was outstanding at both 2 and 3 and had already shown the versatility and endurance that made him look like a cinch to become a truly superior older horse.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - For those who missed the opportunity to bid on the 1969 Kentucky Derby trophy when it was offered at auction last July (and sold for $60,000), take heart. There are still three weeks left before the holidays arrive, and anyone who shops smart still can snag the perfect gift for the horse racing fan who has everything.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - You might not find him perched high on the local standings, but no one should ever be surprised when the name of Dave Hofmans appears alongside a good horse. After all, he has been training quality runners for nearly 30 years, with a string of credits that includes such major race winners as Alphabet Soup, Touch Gold, Adoration, Dramatic Gold, Awesome Again, and Cat's Cradle.

TUCSON, Ariz. - It is 143 years since the Confederate Army of Gen. Braxton Bragg lost Kentucky to the 55,000-man Union Army of the Ohio of Gen. Don Carlos Buell at the Battle of Perryville, but vestiges of civil war remain in the Bluegrass.

Gen. Marty Maline's Army of the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association still has troops in the medication minefield that will not surrender, and skirmishes continue on other fronts.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - There should be a moment of silence observed at Hollywood Park on Sunday for horsemen and fans to pause and reflect as the Matriarch Stakes and the Hollywood Derby lie in state on the day normally reserved for their renewals.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving has been established as the final world-class afternoon of the California season, with horses and their people coming from far and wide to run in the Matriarch and the derby.

NEW YORK - Americans who stayed up until 1:20 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights could get a glimpse of the Japanese racing through TVG's telecasts of the Japan Cup and Japan Cup Dirt. Looking at the past performances for those fields offered an equally intriguing glimpse of a racing culture so awash in money that stateside horse owners might weep.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Unless the temperamental Better Talk Now can shake off a bad Breeders' Cup and revert to his very best form, or King's Drama can step his admirable game up a notch or so, the drought for American-trained horses in the world's richest grass race figures to continue.

NEW YORK - The only true part of the Fall Highweight Handicap on Thanksgiving at Aqueduct was that it was still fall. There were no high weights and the race was only technically a handicap.

They New York Racing Association has been quietly and commendably easing weight out of its best races, and nobody has been noticing or complaining. The Diana at Saratoga was changed to allowance conditions this year and everyone carried either 118 or 120 pounds, probably a transitional step in making the race weight for age, as all Grade 1's should be.